RESULTS OF THE USE OF 3D SCANNING IN DENTAL ANTHROPOLOGY STUDIES OF THE MODERN POPULATION

Abstract. The article describes results of using a medical intraoral scanner Medit i500 to obtain odontological information in a course of the survey of the modern population in the western regions of the Republic of Tuva within the framework of the complex ethnographic and anthropological expedition of TuvSU-CPI under the leadership of E.V. Aiyzhi. The experience of using this scanner occurred to be very successful. From a technical point of view, the scanner demonstrated high efficiency and productivity due to the high scanning speed. The use of an intraoral scanner opens up wide methodological possibilities in conducting dental anthropology studies: first, the use of digital images for further analysis instead of wax prints, makes it possible to expand the research program by including a number of features of both the lingual and vestibular surfaces of the crowns, and the occlusive one. Secondly, the researcher has the opportunity to accurately fix the sequence and degree of teething of the permanent change, which is very important for determining the correspondence of the "dental" and passport age in children, which ultimately makes it possible to assess the processes of growth and development in the population. Thirdly, it allows us to study in more detail the morphology of the teeth, more accurately assess the severity score of the dental anthropology feature. In addition, thanks to the use of the scanner, we were able to carry out an important methodological study on the analysis of interobserver agreement in the assessment of some dental traits.